The recent decision of the Postal Regulatory Commission to increase postal rates by 4.3% to make up for recessionary losses—on top of a 1.7% inflationary spike—has been lambasted by direct mail organizations. But should we be sounding the death knell for direct mail as an effective marketing channel? Hardly.

Businesses can actually help pull the struggling USPS out of the red and make a decent buck in the process by investing more, not less, in direct mail marketing during 2014. The key is designing clever, targeted direct mail campaigns that take advantage of some creative approaches—and technology.